Virtually Identical

25. Reasons

LAURA

"I told you to study hard! Why the hell are you lacking behind? You useless girl." My step father yelled at me, making me flinch. I was trying so hard to avoid eye contact with him, so he could not see that I was crying. He hit my harder when he saw tears in my eyes. Unfortunately this time luck was not on my side, he grabbed my hair by his fist, yanking my head upwards. I felt the belt hit my stomach and I tried to avoid screaming.

I have been like this for years. My mother died of abuses from my step father, I had a step brother who was out of the country, he ran away, to be precise and I doubted he was ever coming back. It would be smart of him if he does not, no one liked to be tortured like this. This man whom I called my step father was insane, always drunk. He used me and the rest of the family members as punching bags. We could not do anything because we were afraid. Mom died, Jacob ran away, but I was stuck here. I did not have anywhere else to go. I still could not afford to move out in a separate apartment and legally I was not allowed to do that either.

He was not like that when mom married him, they were happy. I was happy. I had a life I could only wish for, but everything changed when mom had a miscarriage. He was so angry at her that he thought it was her fault their baby could not make it. He started drinking and hitting mom, I tried to stop him but only got beaten by him myself. I was only fourteen back then. They tried for another child but the doctor said that Mom would not be able to conceive anymore. It angered him further.
Jacob at that time was eighteen and he did not gave a damn about what happened to us, he was his blood after all.

Mom finally could not bear the beatings. Her body had become weak and she was barely able to do the house chores and cook for us I wanted to help her but my step father wanted me to study hard and always get the highest rank. And if I did not, he would beat me. Shortly after I turned fifteen, he and mom had a fight again, he was too drunk and that was when he suffocated her with a belt, thinking it was just going to hurt her but it actually killed her. I was there the whole time, screaming and crying at him to stop hurting my mom but he did not listen. She was breathing only faintly when she was taken to the hospital and soon she passed away there. It was not a natural death, it was a murder but he was not even investigated.

Jacob became a target too after mom's death, so he ran away, leaving me behind with the beast to play with. I was physically, mentally and emotionally damaged. His beatings stopped for a while when I got admission on scholarship because I was up to his expectations, getting highest grades, working part time jobs to feed us both, until Rose showed up. I saw her as a friend at first but little did I know she became my enemy. I did not hate her, I personally don't. She was a nice person, she could never harm anyone but indirectly I felt she was harming me. My step father started hitting me again when I was ranked second, I still got to keep my scholarship but he would not understand that. I was afraid, the bruises I had on my body were about to fade when they were replaced with new ones.

"I'm sorry. I'll try and study more hard, I'm sorry...please forgive me." I pleaded to my step father, but that only earned me a whack on my stomach. He let go of my hair and pushed me aside, as I stumbled and collided with the study table. My arm hit the lamp resting on it and it fell, making me wince in pain.

It was not long when he stumbled back and passed out. Thank God, I was safe. At least for now. I glanced at myself in the mirror. The bruises were hidden under my clothes, they always were, none knew what kind of life I have outside school, not even Emily. I have been a pro in hiding them and somehow all this had made me heartless. I was becoming just like him, a monster who hurt people. The only difference was that I do it for my peace of mind and he does it for his anger management. I have tried to call the police, more than once but he knew whenever I did that, and then I was as good as dead. I don't want to remember that time.